Detecting and deterring counterfeit products is a significant challenge in many endeavors, for example, semiconductor devices, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, currency, or items of particular value. Commercial product marking standards exist in industries such as automotive, defense, medical, and electronics in applications where traceability of particular items or parts is desirable. These standards are part of endeavors to ensure that traceable identifying marks are suitable for process control in the relevant applications. Marking is also sometimes desirable for tracking and/or authenticating unique or valuable objects such as diamonds, bullion, or weapons systems. Among the problems associated with marking, there is often a trade-off between a desire to keep the marking small, and to provide large amounts of information. Additional problems may be encountered in connection with the reading of markings. In different operating environments and with different marked objects, optically readable marks and/or electronically readable marks may be more useful, feasible, convenient or cost-effective.
Thus, the present state of the art presents problems in terms not only of marking size, but also other physical characteristics. Due to these and other problems and potential problems with the current state of the art, improved micromarking and reading systems and methods would be useful and advantageous contributions to the arts.